I realize I’ve done a poor job of sharing the day-to-day experience of my
life in Ecuador. To paint a picture (and to document for my future self)
I’ve made a list of some sounds, tastes, and smells. 🙂
S O U N D S
– Musicians walking from restaurant to restaurant playing music on
guitars and flutes
– My neighbors hooking up mics and external speakers to their cars
and driving around the neighborhood singing pop songs in the middle of the
night (I have no idea why)
– My cousin Naye calling for my brother Dany from her house on the
other side of the block
– The squeaky kitchen cabinets
– The low hum of the T.V. from my Dany and Vero’s room
– Samy shouting “Madeline!” every time I walk into the house
– The sing-song voices that vendors use when selling products on
buses or on the street
– The friendly “Buenas Vecina” from everyone I walk by in El Milagro
– My host parents, Jaime and Leticia, finishing each other’s
sentences when telling stories
– Being serenade on buses
– The dogs in the neighborhood barking 20 hours a day
– My student’s, Joel and Xavier, giggle when I catch them doing
something that they’re not supposed to be doing
– Dany saying “oh my gosh”
– The sound of the buses breaking (it sounds like a sneeze)
– The music playing downstairs all day, ni importa if anyone is home
– Vero’s door opening every morning at exactly 5:31 am
– The blaring house alarm (that sounds like a tsunami warning) going
off in the dead of night
– Jaime saying “wow”
– The seniors pulling out their instruments and playing me songs
whenever the teacher walks out of the room
– The honk of cars when they pass you on the street, sometimes a
catcall, sometimes a hello (I choose to believe they are always hellos)
T A S T E S
– *Huevos Revueltos con Aguacate*, scrambled eggs with avocado, my
usual breakfast at 5:40 am
– *Arroz*, rice which accompanies every meal
– *Claudias*, a sweet yellow fruit (pictured below) that Vero and I
snack on
– *Colada Morada*, a hot fruit stew (so much better than it sounds)
that we drink on especially cold days
– *Jugo de Piña*, pineapple juice which accompanies lunch
– *Ensalada de Atún*, a tuna, tomato, and red onion lunch dish
– *Helado de Paila*, a dairy-free ice cream that I buy on long bus
rides
– *Tortillas*, fried dough that we sometimes have with coffee in the
afternoon
– *Sopa con Canguil*, soup with popcorn in it, a typical merienda
– *Jugo/Batido/Helado de Mora*, blackberry flavored anything and
everything that I enjoy WHENEVER I can
S M E L L S
– The sweet smell of the alpaca wool blankets on my bed and the
similar smell of the clothes drying on the clotheslines
– The incredible smells pouring out from the panderías, specifically
the one by the Urcuqui bus stop
– Te de cedrón brewing on the stove
– The smell of chocolate that fills the Sandoval home when I bake
brownies
– Lavender essential oil that I use at the end of a long day
– The sweet banana pancakes that Leticia so proudly makes
– The steaming street food on the corner I pass walking into El
Milagro every afternoon
– The smell of incense and meriendas cooking that surrounds you if
you take a walk at 6 pm
🙂
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